Students got an abdominal workout in the Bollinger Student Union last Wednesday with the help of comedians Marina Franklin and Mike Speenberg at the latest Student Programing Association’s Comedy Night.
Both comedians poked fun at their upbringing in their sets that frequently featured autobiographical material.
Franklin, a native of Chicago, Ill., discussed her life as a woman in New York and her life-changing move from an all-white neighborhood to an all-black neighborhood. Franklin explains that she never chose to be a comedian, but the profession chose her. She graduated with a master of fine arts in acting from Syracuase University and moved to New York to work in theater. Her friends encouraged her to try comedy because she was always telling funny stories. Simply talking to Franklin can be  entertaining, and she admits that she tends to “talk in punch line form.”
Franklin confesses that performing fulfills her, saying, “It feels good, and it’s cathartic. When you grow up like I did, sort of moving around and having to adjust with different groups of people all the time, then that affects you. Being able to talk about it is a resolve; I would say it’s the best type of resolve.”
Comedy has taken Franklin to Australia, Ireland, England and South Africa where she was able to meet Winnie Mandela.
 “It was cool to go to South Africa because I felt like I was going home, even though they were like ‘no you aren’t from here, you are from Chicago,’ ” Franklin said.
When Franklin met Mandela, she finally received the acceptance she craved. “Meeting her was awesome and she said, ‘welcome home.’ When I hugged her, she had a wig on, and my natural hair locked with her wig and almost pulled it off.”
Speenberg is a native of Mathews, N.C., who has been a comedian for about 15 years. Speenberg’s act focuses on his upbringing.
 “I talk about growing up, but I’m a lot older than you guys,” Speenberg said. “I grew up in rural North Carolina, but I live in Atlanta, Ga., so I just talk about growing up in a trailer park.”
After graduating from college, Speenberg had an unexpected introduction to comedy.
“I graduated from college in December 1995, and I really didn’t want to have a job,” he said. “I fell into a comedy club and I starting doing standup, and I have been doing comedy since.”
When developing new material, Speenberg has found that it helps to be around his friends, believing that “life gives you material.”
 “Comedy has taken me places that a regular job never would have taken me,” Speenberg said of his career, which has taken him to four different continents.
He once performed for the troops in Iraq, which gave him a new perspective on his career.
“When I started doing standup, it was because I didn’t have a job. I was just kind of fooling around, but then I realized that people could actually get something out of it.”
Performing for U.S. troops also meant a lot to Speenberg because his grandfather was a veteran.
“I promised my grandpa before he passed that I would do as much as I could. I’ve never been in the military, so I just make them laugh,” he said.